Chiang Mai Governor Pawin Chamniprasart met with district chiefs, community leaders and government officials recently to discuss the issues with littering and rubbish that have become apparent during the high tourist season.
The Governor urged all sectors involved to collaborate and tackle the issue. His plans are to move forward under government policies ‘Thailand the Land Free of Rubbish’ and Chiang Mai as ‘Changwat Sa-ard’ or Clean Province. The first step to make this happen is to have local authorities raise awareness of rubbish issues within their respective communities and find ways to reduce waste/rubbish starting at the home and family level. This will then lead to communities, moobans and tambons promoting recycling at their levels.
The ‘Thailand the Land Free of Rubbish’ project was started in 2016 and will be observed till 2021to determine whether the plans are effective or not under the 3 R’s; recycle, reduce and reuse. Other strategies include ways to dispose of rubbish and regular cleaning projects in local communities. Moreover, some rubbish can be used for other purposes such as processing into fertilizers and other things.
He noted that if each and every Thai or foreign person living in Thailand would give up just a few hours of their day to come out and clean or get rid of their own rubbish properly, Thailand would become a rubbish free country within a day.
